Entries in Main Dish
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Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking. It’s nights like those when I need quick meals in my repertoire to keep me from eating out. Like this one. Reminiscent of a fast-food beef and cheese sandwich I remember from my youth, but way better and more grown up. Perfectly cooked roast beef, sautéed onions and peppers, and a sauce actually made of cheese make for a very quick and very delicious weeknight meal. A word of warning…leftovers make for a messy lunch, but so worth it!

Divide the roast beef between the 4 rolls on a baking sheet, and heat in an oven at 350 degrees for about 5-8 minutes, or until heated through. Meanwhile, sauté onions and peppers with olive oil in a medium pan until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a small saucepan, stir together the cheese and evaporated milk over medium-low heat until the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper. Top the roast beef with the sautéed onions and peppers and drizzle with the cheese sauce. Serve immediately.

Last week, we needed a quick meal for dinner. I’m usually not good at thinking on my feet when it comes to recipes, but on the way home I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few ingredients to pair with some produce in the fridge that needed to be used. Once home, one thing led to another and those ingredients ended up in a bowl with some quinoa and we hoped for the best. When the fork hit our mouths, we were impressed by how delicious our spur of the moment salad was. It was a salad that we didn’t mind eating for lunch all week too. In fact, I’ve already made it a second time!

In a medium sauce pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the quinoa and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the water has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork and take off the heat. Add the spinach and stir around so that the heat helps it to wilt a bit. Add the cucumber, feta, tomatoes, and artichokes and stir to combine. Pour the dressing over the top and toss to evenly coat. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.

We don’t repeat many recipes in this house, so when we do, it’s for a good reason. I’ve made these meatballs a few times in a month because they are just so good! They are incredibly versatile too! They make a deliciously quick dinner, but they would be just as awesome on an appetizer plate at a party. We added them to our weeknight meal repertoire, over a bed of brown rice (cooked in the rice cooker because it’s the only way I don’t burn it). Delicious, simple, and filling!

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, grated ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, and 2-3 of the sliced scallions. Shape the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked. You should be able to make about 2 dozen meatballs with the mixture.

In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sriracha, and 1/4 cup of water. Stir the mixture over medium heat until the brown sugar has dissolved. In a small bowl, make a slurry with the cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Add the slurry to the saucepan and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to simmer until the glaze thickens and becomes glossy. Brush the glaze over the tops/sides of each of the meatballs. Sprinkle the meatballs with remaining scallions and serve over rice, or with toothpicks as an appetizer.

We’ve been spoiled. Over the past few years, we’ve had relatively mild winters; light on the snow and temperatures in the double digits, which are very much not the norm in Buffalo. Needless to say, we got used to those winters, forgetting how cold and snowy it once was. This year, however, was very much like the winters I remembered as a kid; snowing pretty much consistently and temperatures well below zero. Since it has been a few years since we’ve experienced a winter like that, it came as a bit of an unwelcome surprise! While these last two days have been light on the snow, the temperatures have still been absolutely brutal! Since Mother Nature continues to blast us with her frigid air, we’ve been craving simple, yet hearty dishes to warm us up. As I flipped through the pages of the Bon Appetit magazine the other day, I knew that this dish would fit the bill. Easy enough for a weeknight, yet delicious enough to serve guests, this meal warmed us right up!

Add the oil to a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Add the sage and toss to coat. Transfer the pancetta and sage to a small bowl and set aside. Add the squash, onion, and garlic to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is soft and the liquid has reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly, then pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, then drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Combine the pasta and squash puree in the skillet and cook over medium heat, tossing the pasta in the puree to coat. Add reserved pasta cooking liquid, as needed (I didn’t end up using any). Mix in 1/4 cup of the grated cheese and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve pasta with reserved pancetta and sage, shaved pecorino, and cracked black pepper.

I have fond memories of going to Bennigan’s with my family as a kid. Besides Chi Chi’s, it was my favorite. I seemed to remember that at the end of the meal, on our way out the door we could pick something out of their toy chest of awesome {read: cheap-o} toys, however Joel and my brother both tell me that was only at the Ground Round. In any event, even though the kid in me enjoyed that part, the Irish pub feel always made me feel a bit more grown up. I knew I was “grown up” when I was allowed to order a cup of soup before my dinner. At Bennigan’s, that cup of soup of choice was always potato soup. So, you better believe that when I found a copycat recipe online, I felt like I just had to make it, for nostalgia sake. I can’t say I remember exactly how the soup at Bennigan’s tasted for the sake of comparison, as the restaurant closed quite a number of years ago, but this homemade version was absolutely delicious! This warm and hearty soup is quick cooking, so it’s perfect for a weeknight, too!

To cook the potatoes, poke them with a fork several times and bake at 400 degrees for an hour, or until they are tender when pierced. (To make this more quick-cooking, you can also cook the poked potatoes in the microwave on the potato setting, which took me about 12 minutes). If you use a baking potato, allow them to cool and then peel. If you use red potatoes, leave the skins on. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes until they are soft, but not browned. Add 2/3 of the potatoes and mash using a potato masher. Add the chicken broth, milk, salt, and pepper. (At this point, I also used my immersion blender to mash the potatoes, since my masher didn’t do a great job). Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a low simmer, stirring occasionally. Chop the remaining potatoes into small cubes then add to the soup, stirring gently until warmed through. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish with the optional garnishes, if desired.